Claudi Schroegel Guest Blog
Tips on Strava Athlete Posts

Strava Athlete Posts became available to all users a couple of weeks ago. We got some great insight from some of the original 36 Athletes who used it first. Our chat with Claudi Schroegel was so interesting we thought we would share in more detail her advice and thoughts. It’s too good to keep to ourselves! It’s full of fantastic tips and detailed insight. For content creators in endurance sports, this is a must read.

How have you found the feature in telling the story of your activities? Do like being able to share more on Strava?

When asked by Strava to be one of the first 36 athletes to share insights into our athletic life, I thought that opening up athlete posts was a brilliant move. I had already appreciated the dynamic ways of engaging with my network on Strava. The commenting and handing out kudos on activities, and telling brief stories about my own runs through ‘activity descriptions’. However, the amount of text available was very limited and I had to use other platforms to share wider concepts (e.g. blog).

Working in the sports industry, with a focus on community, saw us posting across multiple platforms, where running content sat alongside non sports-related content. It got confusing. Much to the annoyance of my friends. Many of them are not such keen sports enthusiasts. Posting yet another thing about running on Facebook for example, you wonder how many times you can get away with this activity before alienating friends with no interest.

I also found it difficult to tap into a hive of knowledgeable and experienced people when I came across a specific problem. Of course, there are forums, groups and coaching resources but it all felt quite scattered and incomplete. I spent the most time researching where to put my request rather than actually getting a tangible response back .

By being able to have conversations on a global sports platform, across disciplines and levels of expertise is brilliant and relevant. Yet with 36 athletes we were only at the beginning.

Did this help your exposure to other athletes? To brands?

It certainly did, but this wasn’t my main objective in being part of the project. By opening up athlete posts I now could find like-minded people to chat to on a platform enabling sports. I wouldn’t know where to look beforehand because you didn’t know who to follow. All I did was follow people I knew and professional athletes.

I’ve also joined a few groups where before posts, not much was happening apart from who sits at the top of the leaderboards. So I was quite focused on myself in my own little Strava stats and workout bubble. Being able to share more about my athletic life, starting conversations about topics that interest me and echoing thoughts of my community, were a great starting point and opened my eyes to a wider audience. There is huge potential for growth for Strava and Strava’s community.

What type of content have you found has worked well on Strava?

Inspirational content always works. No one wants to read another race report or hear how many PBs you’ve smashed out of the park. Athletes on Strava are genuinely interested in your personal journey, something they can relate to. If you are a content creator keep that in mind. Have something to share that is specific to yourself, but could also be generic enough for other athletes to tap into. This way it becomes more honest and real. A real person, doing real things like running or cycling, with all the honest ups and downs. You can always include products and brands in a clever way, but don’t make that your key aim. It’ll put off the passionate Strava athlete as seen in some of the feedback on other platforms.

A real person, doing real things like running or cycling, with all the honest ups and downs.

This post from a few weeks back reveals some harsh truths about life, training and advice. It also prompts my readers into challenging their own beliefs around those topics.

What advice do you have for other content creators who now have access to the feature?

Don’t do it for the money. Be honest – stay true to your values and beliefs. Brands will pick up on your passion and realness. Authenticity isn’t about being unique but about being consistent. Strava is ultimately still a platform for tracking activities and progress. By opening up the post function your followers and fans (and of course brands) can get better insights into what makes you tick.

Show your problem solving skills, show your personality, show your dreams and goals. Showcase projects and work related to sports, but try to avoid turning this into a sales pitch. Brands want to work with people who they believe are in line with their values and who can help make a difference in engagement. It is about the quality of engagement and conversations that counts, not the numbers of followers. Become a problem solver or a facilitator in the sport you are passionate about.

How do you think this will benefit brands who are working with content creators?

I believe by being able to display insights into the athletic life of real people, brands can get a good feel about the athlete behind the profile. And with in-depth insights, brands can decide who they want to get on board for an upcoming project.

Raw stories told by others are a very powerful tool in a busy marketing landscape.

Marketing has shifted towards building brand values and brand loyalty through community, actual people walking the talk. Athletes on Strava become role models for the every day athlete (who are incidentally the majority of sports consumers). To have someone to identify and share the experience with. A community or a content creator will help tell the story for the brand.

Raw stories told by others are a very powerful tool in a busy marketing landscape where propositions across brands can be very generic. Brands can find true ambassadors.